The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for detecting objects-to-be-printed.
In association with the trend in recent years toward use of color printers and higher picture-quality printing, as the objects-to-be-printed, paper of which the surface has been processed with some coating, or special types of paper of which the base material itself is special-purpose high-quality paper, glossy film, photographic-quality glossy film, photographic-quality glossy paper, OHP film, or back-printed film, etc., are being commercialized in addition to plain paper. As these special types of paper are expensive, development of means for discriminating them prior to printing the object-to-be-printed has been sought for in order that an operator of a computer and the like can avoid a situation of printing on a special piece of paper against the operator""s will of printing on plain paper.
Previously, printing had been done by putting plain paper on one of two or more trays loaded on a printer, for example, on an upper tray, and special paper on a lower tray, and the operator selecting in advance which tray to use prior to printing.
During this process, in the event a different type of paper was mixed on a predetermined tray, the operator suffered a problem of printing on wrong paper against the will.
The present invention addresses the above described previous problem and aims at providing an apparatus and method for detecting objects-to-be-printed with which the object-to-be-printed can be distinguished as to whether it is plain paper or special paper.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises an object-to-be-printed, a heating means for heating the object-to-be-printed, and an infrared sensor for detecting infrared rays radiated by the object-to-be-printed heated by the heating means.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for detecting an object-to-be-printed with which the object-to-be-printed can be distinguished as to whether it is plain paper or special paper.